Your Right to Know

As Republican John McCain began a swing through President Bush's home state, which holds its
primary election Tuesday, the Arizona senator made sure to play up a line he always uses: "I also
think it might be nice for President Bush to get a little credit that there's not been another
attack on the United States of America," he said to applause.

Later, McCain picked up support from prominent televangelist John Hagee of San Antonio's
Cornerstone Church. McCain has labored to win support among evangelical conservatives, an important
GOP voting bloc with whom he has clashed over the years.

"What Sen. McCain needs to do, I feel, to bring evangelicals into his camp is to make very clear
his strong defense of Israel and that he has a strong, 24-year record of being pro-life," Hagee
said.

Lewis switches to Obama

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Rep. John Lewis, a young civil-rights leader in the 1960s, has dropped
his support for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid in favor of Barack Obama's.

Lewis, who represents Atlanta, is the most prominent black leader to defect from Clinton's
campaign in the face of near-unanimous black support for Obama in recent voting. He also is a
superdelegate who gets a vote at this summer's national convention in Denver.

Lewis' constituents supported Obama by a ratio of about 3-to-1 in Georgia's Feb. 5 primary.

Sticking with Clinton is her most prominent black supporter in Ohio, Democratic Rep. Stephanie
Tubbs Jones of Cleveland, who also is a superdelegate. "All you have is your word," said Tubbs
Jones, noting she committed to Clinton early on. "I have chosen her (Clinton) based on her
background and experience."

Clinton tax returns on hold

CLEVELAND -- Sen. Hillary Clinton says she won't release her tax returns until she has the
Democratic presidential nomination in hand, and not before tax filing time in mid-April.

Clinton argued for openness Tuesday night in her debate with Barack Obama in Cleveland: "I will
release my tax returns. I have consistently said I will do that once I become the nominee, or even
earlier."

Campaign aides indicated yesterday that Clinton will not release the financial data in a hotly
contested primary, only at tax-filing time.

Obama narrows Pa. deficit

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama is closing in on Hillary Clinton's once-16-percentage-point lead in
Pennsylvania, which votes April 22, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.

Two weeks ago, Clinton led in the survey by 52 percent to 36 percent. The latest poll indicates
that her lead was 49 percent to 43 percent.

Voters younger than 45 have gone in two weeks from favoring Clinton by 11 percentage points to
preferring Obama by 17 points.

No run for Bloomberg

NEW YORK -- After two years of playing coy about his presidential ambitions, Mayor Michael
Bloomberg declared in a newspaper editorial yesterday that he will not run for president as an
independent. He also said he might support the candidate who "takes an independent, nonpartisan
approach."